John Kelly doubles down on claims Donald Trump was a Hitler fan

Donald Trump's longest-serving White House chief-of-staff has doubled down on claims that the former president was a fan of Adolf Hitler and warns he would 'govern like a dictator if allowed'.

John Kelly, who served on Trump's staff from 2017 to 2019, in a scathing new interview with the New York Times has accused the GOP nominee of being the 'definition of fascist' and claims he does not have an understanding of American history or the Constitution.

Kelly, 74, alleged that Trump once said 'Hitler did some good things' and praised the Nazi dictator for having 'rebuilt the economy'. Kelly also told The Atlantic on Tuesday that Trump said he wanted his staff to be more like 'German generals in World War II' because they were 'totally loyal' to Hitler.

Additionally, the retired Marine veteran doubled down on previous claims that Trump branded American servicemembers who died or were injured as 'suckers and losers', adding that the ex-president 'may be the only American citizen that feels that way about those who gave their lives or served their country'.

A Trump campaign spokesperson hit back at Kelly's claims in a statement to The Times, saying the former political advisor 'has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated'.

Kelly alleged that his former boss 'certainly prefers the dictator approach to government' and 'never accepted the fact that he wasn't the most powerful man in the world'.

Reading a textbook definition of fascism aloud during an audio interview with the Times, he described the ideology as a 'far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy'.

Kelly said, in 'my experience', he has found Trump to believe that those ideologies would 'work better in terms of running America', adding: 'He certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.' 

He also alleged that Trump was annoyed by limitations on his power and desired the 'ability to do anything he wanted, anytime he wanted', which Kelly claimed was Trump's experience in the business world.

In a separate interview with The Atlantic, Kelly claimed that Trump became more interested in the 'advantages of dictatorship' and having 'absolute control over the military' as his Oval Office term neared its close.

'I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,' Trump allegedly said during a private conversation in the White House.  'People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.'

Trump spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer, in an email to the magazine, denied the alleged conversation, stating: 'This is absolutely false. President Trump never said this.'

Kelly, who has also been probed about the alleged remarks, claims he and Trump spoke in detail about the 'German generals' in WWII.

'Do you mean the kaiser's generals? Surely you can't mean Hitler's generals?' Kelly claims he asked Trump, to which he alleges the then-President responded: 'Yeah, yeah, Hitler's generals.'

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The former staffer said he 'explained' to Trump that Hitler's generals had 'tried to kill' the Austrian-born leader 'three times and almost pulled it off.'

He claims Trump replied: 'No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him.' 

The retired political adviser also claims that he had to instruct Trump that he 'can never say anything good' about Hitler, even if the then-President did believe the dictator 'did some good things'.

Similarly, Kelly alleges that Trump in 2018 asked him who the 'good guys' were during WWI, to which he advised that American presidents should 'remember that the "good guys" in any given conflict are the countries allied with the United States'.

Kelly was also questioned about reports that Trump had expressed contempt for disabled veterans and soldiers who died in combat.

'President Trump used the terms 'losers' and 'suckers' to describe soldiers who gave their lives in the defense of our country. There are many, many people who have heard him say these things,' he told The Atlantic.

He alleged that Trump did not want to be seen in a parade with military amputees because 'it doesn't look good for me', refused to visit the graves of fallen soldiers in France and 'demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family' during his 2016 campaign.

Trump, according to Kelly, did not understand the sacrifice of slain soldiers and reportedly once asked: 'Why do you people think that people getting killed are heroes?'

Kelly says he 'could never understand why he was that way' and argued that 'selflessness is something he just didn't understand'.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, in a statement to Axios, denied the Republican nominee ever made the remarks, saying: 'President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women.'

Tuesday's comments marked the former top aides' most extended public comments about the former Republican president and the GOP's 2024 nominee.

Kelly declined to endorse any candidate for the White House, but said 'it's a very dangerous thing to have the wrong person elected to high office.'